TWILIGHT ZONE: Ice MOON Truckers
by Dan Bivens
Summary: Genetic copies of four proven ice road truckers on Earth are now, in the 23rd Century, are sent to the ice-covered moon, orbiting Jupiter, known as Europa. With dangers of being killed on such a moon, the four main, genetically copied, former ice road truckers will now attempt to master an entire world of ice.
1. Chapter 1

The year and century was 2253 AD, as a singularly sizable interplanetary transport ship, called ICE SHIP ALPHA, sailed through the enveloping void and deepest dark at a top speed of 150 million kilometers-per-day. Largely due to the nuclear-pods attached to the underside of dense metallic plate, designed solely to allow for regularly exploded nuclear energy meant to cut down the travel time from Earth to Jupiter's ice moon: Europa.

In point of fact, with Jupiter and her moons at their closest orbital path from Earth-space, 740,573,600 kilometers from earth, such meant it will take the ICE SHIP ALPHA would take the ship's truckers and four-man crew compliment some 4-to-5 days prior to settling into orbit about Europa.

On board, those ice moon truckers, paid to set down on Europa with specially-designed heavy-duty, radiation-proofed semis, spent their days getting to know one another, as well as the interplanetary flight officers.

"Say, Chuck", Hugh "Polar Bear" Rowland Six, every bit the same, genetically-speaking, as was the five previous versions, said to Captain Charles Howards, "how much longer until we get into sight of Europa, in orbit about Jupiter. I'm ready to start clocking in some heavy hauls before my competitors shift out of fist gear."

"For the last time today, Hugh", replied Captain Howards amidst a heavy sigh of exasperation, "we should reach the Jovian system in another couple of days. Just keep yourself busy playing the holographic games in the rear gaming cubes. I think a couple of your fellow truckers are each in one now. Playing a completely self-contained one on one battles against monsters and enemy fighters in various level-by-level conquests."

Having made his way past a handful of other truckers, who were not genetic replicas of Earthbound truckers, as was the case with a total of three...

There were also direct descents from a few other globally-known ice road truckers on Earth in the Canadian ice roads, as well as Alaskan ice roads: Alex Debogorski Five; Jack Jessee Seven; and Lisa Kelly Nine, amongst another ten or twelve ice moon truckers of whom this was their first physical incarnations, as was the case with these four.

"Playin' holo-games", snorted Hugh Six, under his breath, as he got up, nanotube plastic cup of still-steaming coffee in one hand, black with two teaspoons of artificially produced "real" sugar, and strode lazily toward the rearmost section of the rather large ship's whereupon the holographic cubes could be found. Hugh Six's exterior seemed calm and collected, although, deep within himself, he was actually animated resulting in somewhat rapid breathing, to the point of hyperventilating, and with his rapidly racing heart.

But none of it was fear, as was the documented cases of all six previous versions of Hugh "Polar Bear" Rowlands. He wondered what his three competitors, at least the three out of all the new guys and gals selected to drive big rigs across the most dangerous ice terrain in over seven-hundred million kilometers of space, were thinking and feeling.

Even now, one of the sliding open doors, to just one of the holographic entertainment cubes, revealed the only man to truly give Hugh Six any sort of real competition. Even including all the previous versions of Hugh and the tall man, with a protruding, just not as much as was the case with Hugh Six, potbelly...

"Well, hell", began Hugh Six with a broad toothy smile, as both men simultaneously extended right hands in order to shake each others hands with a palpable amount of emotions ranging from an excitement to get started, combined with the irritation caused by nervousness, along with an eagerness to win, at the end of a week or two of constant hauling across the snow-white, for the most part, surface of Europa. "If it ain't Alex. How ya been?"

Alex Debogorski Five was loudly laughing, one or two teeth missing from his otherwise toothy response to his three century's old nemesis upon any ice road back on Earth. This would, of course, be their first time hauling across the face of what had proven to be between ten to thirty kilometers thick of incredibly hard ice...

"If it ain't the Polar Bear himself", laughingly said Alex Five to Hugh Six. "Guess we both have something to prove as former ice road truckers, eh?"

"Nah", halfway-lied Hugh Six to Alex Five. "Ice roads are ice roads, even one all the way out in space orbiting the largest planet in the solar system."

"Hang onto your wide ass, Polar Bear", Alex Five, still grinning and looking every bit as much as looked all the other Alexs, stretching back over three centuries of perfect copies. "I intend on out-hauling you on this, the greatest, and most dangerous, over-ice hauling either of us, and our previous selves, have ever even imagined."

"We'll see, my old friend and competitor", responded a still smiling, and laughing, Hugh Six, just as they released the vice-like handshake in order for Hugh Six to make his way into the holographic cube just vacated by Alex Five. "We'll see."


	2. Chapter 2

While Hugh Six enters the self-same holographic cube, situated to the port side of the vast interior, just vacated by Alex Five. Allowing the door, in his somewhat substantial wake, to close and seal itself, so that Hugh Six could conjure up anything he wishes contained within the vast interactive computer system making up this particular cube...

"State the desired holographic interface", declared, in a matter-of-fact monotone, this separated-from-the-other holographic systems' computer mind. "Speak loud and clear so as not to obtain the wrong interface story."

"Okay then", spoke, loud and clear, as instructed, Hugh Six to a highly intelligent computer system, "how about a simulation of what it'll be like when I'm in my protective space suit, driving a radiation-proof rig to quickly, and as safely as possible, drive and drop pre-loaded trailers bound for any number of outposts resting atop Europa's ice-covered ocean."

With but a moment to accommodate, via its vast memory banks, Hugh Six's request, the monotone computer voice, coming from well-positioned, and well-hidden, speaker systems, stated succinctly, "Request acknowledged. Please, enjoy yourself."

"Sure thing, sweetie", sighed a smiling, still, Hugh Six, as he settled into the sensor-controlled lone chair, situated dead center of the holographic cube. To more readily create the requested solo-game, even if, to Hugh Six, it wasn't a game at all...

"There ya go! Ha-Haa!" loudly proclaimed Hugh Six, even as interactive devices, symbolic of a steering wheel, clutch, brake, and accelerator, along with something that would appear as, and feel like, a multi-gear stick shift immediately to the right of Hugh Six's legs, almost seemed to simply appear. "Whooo-haaaa!"

Already, in an as realistic as possible setting in the holographic cube, Hugh Six was gearing up to take the eighteen-wheeler truck, loaded down with twice as much cargo as Hugh Six, or any previous Hugh "Polar Bear" Rowland, going back to the original in the early-to-late 21st Century, to one of several scientific settlements.

Places where scientists and assistants worked underneath protective domes, so they do not have to wear cumbersome space suits, like Hugh Six and the others would be required to do. And each settlement a significant distance from where such as Hugh Six would be dropped off at the true headquarters for such exceptionally important activities with which the scientists and assistants worked so much of a sunless day. Day after day, week after week.

Meantime, out of their own, one starboard and one port, holographic cubes...

"Well, here she is", said Jack Jessee Seven, sporting a somewhat smirking smile that betrayed any emotion to the contrary, in regards to the only consistently, over the last three centuries, gene-created icon, just as was true with Jack Seven, Alex Five, and Hugh Six. "How's little Lisa going to face this interplanetary challenge way out here in orbit about Jupiter?"

Lisa Kelly Nine's dimples deepened, as she flipped her straight to the shoulder hair, and managed to blush just a little...

"Don't worry about me, Jack. I can take care of myself."

Jack Seven harrumphed, almost under his breath, as the two were almost lock-stepped as they walked side-by-side, away from the rearmost starboard and port holographic cubes.

"You may have done good, you and your genetic predecessors, on Earth's most dangerous snow-and-ice-bound roads, but none of them required that you wear clumsy space suits, and sit in tightly sealed, designed to protect a driver from extreme radiation created by Europa's orbit about Jupiter. Not to mention the lack of a breathable atmosphere, which would also make it unnecessary for trucking by radiation."

Even as he shook his head, meaning he had made his proverbial point, Lisa Nine chuckled a ready reply.

"You worry about your own Self, Jack, and let me worry about me."


	3. Chapter 3

"Time to get our grub on", joked Jack Seven, as he, Alex Five, and Lisa Nine all retrieved a biodegradable tray upon which sat a plate of desired foodstuffs, which were all artificially created out of an organic mush stored deep in the bowels of ICE SHIP ALPHA. Enough to feed the crew compliment and special passengers for a year, should something happen to stop ICE SHIP ALPHA from moving through space at the same fantastic speed of 150 million kilometers-per-day.

"Is it just me", rhetorically queried Lisa Nine of her two genetically-recreated, over the past three centuries, colleagues, "or does everything actually taste like chicken? Even a supposedly flame-broiled medium-rare steak?"

"Yeah", replied Alex Five, even though his mouth was still watering for the food and drink on his own tray. "Even a dinner roll."

At this statement, which Alex Five found at least a little amusing, he laughed heartily, even as the three of them go for a slightly smaller eating table, with revolving chairs attached via an L-shaped super-plastic, ten times harder and stronger than steel, extension so as to leave at least a little room for their legs.

The same, in precise construction, as were the tables fitted in an end-to-end fashion for the rest of the no-doubt-scared-as hell truckers. Male and female alike.

Such was the generational gap established from day one, when Earth to Earth orbit space ferries carried the truckers, starting with Alex Five, Jack Seven, Lisa Nine, and, of course, Hugh Six, to ICE SHIP ALPHA, situated in high orbit about the Earth.

"Chow time!" called out Hugh Six, as he had clearly completed the truck-on-Europa holographic simulation, and must have came out smelling like the proverbial rose that used to grow so easily, but was now done so in specially-designed, and maintained, hot houses, wherein potentially extinct flora of dozens of said plants could be grown. "My favorite time of day. Ha-ha-haaaa!"

It didn't take long for the half-waddling, half-walking Hugh Six to reach the programmable meal mechanism, wait the five or six seconds for it to be "prepared", then recive it from a ten inch high slot, where he picked up the biodegradable tray of artificially prepared, via the same organic mush stored straight down in a protected-against-tampering bottom-most level of the sizable ship carrying a substantial number of truckers.

And, of course, the crew complement, headed up by Captain Charles Howards...

Who were, at the very moment, in the forward most area of the ship, locked away from the larger area wherein ice moon truckers killed time, one way or the other, whilst ICE SHIP ALPHA continued on toward its hazardous destination in Jupiter orbit.

Captain Howards was seated in the D-shaped cockpit's center in a captain's chair, whilst his helm and navigational officers were seated somewhat to the sides of the D-shaped cockpit. With a communications officer, a very vital position on a vessel traveling over seven-hundred million kilometers distance, seated to the rear of one side of the D-shape.

Not to mention an engineer, should any major malfunction could be monitored and repaired whilst being hundreds of millions of kilometers from Earth...

"How are we doing on time, Helm", Captain Howards asked of Lt. Gerald Grigsby, and from whom a prompt and proper response was given.

"Still traveling at 150 million kilometers-per-day, Captain."

"Navigation?"

Having already anticipated a query from his Captain, Lt. James Barker promptly reported, even as he double-checked his navigational readouts flashing across the centralized screen upon his permanent position within the D-shaped cockpit...

"We're on a direct course for Europan orbit, Captain. Will utilize scanners to ease into a slowly spiraling down fashion, before landing near the control dome, where the special tractor-trailer rigs will be waiting."

"Communications?"

Lt. Neandra Reynolds, the only female crewmember sitting at her communications' control to the rearmost D-shape located position, responded with...

"We still have communications with not only Earth, which is substantially distant at this point, but with the control center for the ongoing Europan exploration being carried out by the dozens of scientists and at least a dozen more assistants, sir."

"And Engineering..."

"The engines are still firing nuclear pods, to keep us speeding along so that it would only take days, not years, to reach Europa", stated, with more than a little self-pride to his tone and facial expression, Major Peter Tongstan.

"And how is the artificially-created spinning chamber making up the bulk of our ship?" asked, further, Captain Charles Howards, whilst twisting slightly to look at Major Tongstan over his left shoulder.

"Still spinning rapidly enough to create the illusion of normal gravity, Captain", said Major Tongstan, ship's engineer. Then, with a modicum of humor to his half-smiling features, added, somewhat whimsically, "Good thing there are no viewing ports along the walls, or else we'd be playing host to a couple of dozen truckers suddenly beset with nausea from the sight of distant stars seemingly spinning around them."

"Noted, Engineer", heavily sighed Captain Howards, which caused Major Tongstan's half-smile to quickly fade , even as an aborning chuckle died in the depths of the Major's own throat.

It wasn't that the Captain lacked a sense of humor, it was more because of the inherent dangers facing them so far from Earth, and still a few days away from Europa, which didn't even have the capacity to mount a rescue should ICE SHIP ALPHA need it.

For Captain Charles Howards, this would not be his only space run from Earth to any of the planets, like Mars, whereupon people have built domes and must rely upon pressurized, though cumbersome, space suits, but back to Europa, in order to retrieve all but four genetically-recreated, over the past three centuries, truckers whom have the best chance of surviving, as well as delivering their super-hauls over treacherous pathways accounting for about half the moon's icy surface.

Alex Five, Hugh Six, Jack Seven, and Lisa Nine, to put it simply and correctly, were the greatest ice road truckers Earth had ever seen.

Now it was time for the quartet to earn more money and professional pride than anyone could quietly conceive to have ever existed in the past.


	4. Chapter 4

Alex Five and Hugh Six were, understandably given there competitively natures that has remained one of the genetically-recreated Selves over the past three hundred years.

No sooner did Captain Charles Howards announce via the ship's intercom, located in the D-shaped cockpit, controlled by communications officer, Lt. Neandra Reynolds, than everyone in the spinning-for-artificial gravity entire midsection...

"Please, get into your space suits now", the official-sounding voice of Captain Howards came through incredibly clear. "Make certain to activate the magnetic-soled space boots, as we have to level out and stop the spin you've needed to remain outside the space suits, so we can sit down approximately fifty-five meters from the entrance into the headquarters dome in order to choose your rig and begin trekking across the rugged terrain to deliver supplies and equipment. Captain Charles Howards out."

"Sounds like we're where we're supposed to be", announced, albeit unnecessarily, Alex Five, even as he and the other three genetically-recreated truckers led the way to the side of one bulkhead where, at the slightest touch by Hugh Six, already in the mood to compete for everything with Alex Five, pivoted open to reveal said space suits.

"What're you two guys rushing for?" Lisa Nine interjected with an amused chuckle. "They won't let us leave the ship until we've fully landed."

"A race is a race, little Lisa", Hugh Six replied, promptly and with a amused chuckle of his own. "And its one Alex here's gonna lose by the time the total tally of how much of the equipment and supplies we've dropped. Ain't that right, buddy?"

A toothy grin, still displaying those that were missing, and a short guffaw met Hugh Six, even as both men were hurriedly donning their space suits, sealing all the joints and adding pressure. And, lastly, pushing the sole solitary button on the underside of their space-gloved hand...

Thu-klink!

That activated the magnetic soles of their space boots. And, with minimal effort, each was capable of pulling loose long enough to step away from the space suit-holding chamber on the starboard side.

Thu-klink! Thu-klink! Thu-klink!

And, in so doing, one slightly ponderous step after another and another and another, found the foursome, already leading the pack made up of non-genetically recreated truckers, who were still struggling to climb into and seal their own cumbersome space suits.

By the time everyone had entered their pressurized space suits, and made it all the way to the port side of the truly large interior, behind the locked unbreakable D-shaped cockpit door...

Pop-Ssssssssss!

The seals were broken, allowing the interior pressure of the no-longer-spinning section making up most of the entire craft called ICE SHIP ALPHA, and the entire group, seemingly led by Alex Five, Hugh Six, Jack Seven, and Lisa Nine, made their way out onto the low gravity, which was why their protectively-covered legs were made heavier than the upper half of their space suits.

"I'm gonna get the largest cargo rig waiting in that pressurized dome", Hugh Six said with considerable self-confidence and certainty, as if the statement, transmitted via the audio system built into each space suit, were a foregone conclusion. "You, Alex, and all the others, will be eating my spray of thin sheets of ice and be in my rear view the entire way. Ha-haaa-ha!"

Alex Five was quick to reply whilst speeding up his slightly ice-crunching steps in his identical-to-the rest space suit, his transmission coming in loud and clear for far more than Hugh Six, actually pulling ahead of the shorter man...

"Not unless you grow some leg length", Alex Five stated quite confidently himself. "I'll be checking in and grabbing my paperwork for the first truck to pull outta here in order to get the larger-than-your truck's load, before you can shout presumed victory."

"Damn you, Alex Five."


	5. Chapter 5

After trudging along the thick sheet of ice separating ICE SHIP ALPHA's resting spot and the special sealed entrance to the overblown dome, wherein those handling the trucks and truckers truly acted as management in this, their headquarters on Europa, Alex Five, Hugh Six, Jack Seven, and Lisa Nine, far ahead of all the other truckers, passed through two sets of automatically sliding-open and self-closing sealed-off doors.

Once inside the main area of the exceptionally large headquarters dome...

"Well, now", said Hugh Six, as he was the first to crack open his helmet, remove it from his suit, and breathe in the recirculated, and cleansed, artificial air. "This is more like it. Smells cleaner than any outdoor spot on the Earth in this century. Yeah."

Alex Five was already breathing normally, having taken his space helmet off a few seconds before Hugh Six, and finally commented, "Let's just hope we can drive our rigs without helmets. Something about the recirculated air inside a sealed off space suit seems a little bit...rank."

"Where do we go to get the keys to our assigned truck's and cargo?" Lisa Nine asked aloud, slightly shifting the subject matter of the conversation to something to do with their reason for being here, rather than how clean this recirculated air was, over what it was like with a sealed, and recycled, oxygen-nitrogen mix space suit.

"I think it's over here, Lisa", Jack Seven gallantly called out, just loud enough to be heard by Lisa Nine, Alex Five, and Hugh Six.

Smoothly shifting their thudding onto ice with space-booted feet, the four genetically-recreated star truckers made their way rather quickly to one of several inner doors. This one giving up what was inside via a small, but easily legible sign...

EUROPAN STATION ONE...PAPERWORK FOR ALL TRUCKERS INSIDE...

There was a paragraph long section with almost-too-small-to-read wording below the bolder, larger wording, but such made little difference to these four artificially multi-generational, over three centuries, top-notch truckers. All looking for their individualized "paperwork" and the keys to their respective pre-loaded, heavy-duty, self-contained big rigs parked elsewhere within the headquarters dome of EUROPAN STATION ONE.

Alex Five was the first to reach the counter top separating these four from one of several seemingly faceless bureaucrats from whom singular assignments were doled out...

"Here you go, Alex Five, this is yours", the bureaucrat-in-charge said with a half-smile even as he handed over the folded computer into Alex Five's space suit-gloved hand, which snatched it away just quick enough to see Hugh Six's space suit-gloved hand reaching over the counter for his.

"Hugh Six, here's yours."

"'Bout friggin' time", was Hugh Six's louder-than-necessary voice, even as Lisa Nine and Jack Seven reached for their folded up computer "paperwork" mere moments after such was received by the first two of their unique group.

"When you step back through these inner office doors, just head off to your right", instructed, somewhat hurriedly, the bureaucrat-in-charge, gesturing with one ungloved hand, belonging to one of many within the protective interior of the HQ dome whom have no need to wear space suits. Opting for a more informal look of one-piece coveralls bearing several patches, such as the tried-and-true symbol and wording for NASA, as well as one for the EUROPAN STATION ONE headquarters. The stenciled name patch said simply: Evanson. "That's where the first of dozens of long haul trucks are awaiting departure from this headquarters. Make sure and get an official signature from the engineering staff-leader, before climbing up into your sealed, airtight and radiation-proofed, cab and pulling out."

"Got ya", Hugh Six said with a snap to his voice, as he, like Alex Five before him, unfolded and, in so doing, activated the paper-thin computers containing a wide variety of information on them regarding individualized loads and destinations. "Well, well, Alex Five, looks like I'm hauling about a hundred tons of equpment bound for EUROPAN STATION TWO."

"Funny thing about that, Hugh Six", snidely stated Alex Five, having unfolded his own paper-thin computer at almost the same time as Hugh Six. "I'm hauling a hundred tons, too, and they're headed for EUROPAN STATION TWO...too."

Hugh Six suddenly stopped smiling, as he gave a backward glance to a chuckling-to-himself Alex Five, then softly said, mostly to himself, "Keep it up Five. You'll be singing a different tune once I drop my load, before you, and high-tail it back to headquarters for another large load."


	6. Chapter 6

Finally, after receiving the proper signatures, via stylus, at the bottom line requesting said signatures, on the folding computer "paperwork"...

"See you out in the wild frozen moon-terrain, Alex Five, my boy", laughingly guffawed Hugh Six, even as both men, with helmets still off, climbed up into their airtight, when the door is closed, radiation proof cab. "I'll wait for you once I've reached EUROPAN STATION TWO. Haaa-haa-haha!"

"I'm afraid that it'll be me waiting for you at EUROPAN STATION TWO, Hugh Six", Alex Five stated with a broad grin, even as he pulled himself up to sit in the airtight, recycled air of his own cab.

Once inside the first four rigs to be pulled out through a doubled set of huge opening gates, leading out into the harsh exterior making up the totality of the Europan landscape...

"Lisa Nine, this is Jack Seven, come back", Jack said resolutely over the time-tested two-way radios in the cabs of all the truck cabs making heavy hauls to two of many others: EUROPAN STATIONS THREE and FOUR respectfully.

"Lisa Nine to Jack Seven", Lisa smilingly said over her own two-way radio, found, like all the others, midway down the cockpit-like control panels. "I'm gonna do my best to get to EUROPAN STATION THREE at least at the same time as you make it to EUROPAN STATION FOUR."

"You can try, but I'm going as fast as humanly possible to get to EUROPAN STATION THREE", stated quite succinctly, via his hand-held two-way radio's microphone. "I'm not gonna stop until I've made at least two more heavy load drops than anyone else. Then I might take it easy at one of my many Europan stops to allow me to get a good, artificially 'cooked' meal. A big one. Then I'm back in my truck to haul in more heavy equipment and construction platforms."

"Yeah, well while you're eating really big artificially-prepared food", Lisa Nine retorted with a huge smile on her beauteous-though-unadorned face, "I'll be passing you up in dropped-off loads."

"And while you two are playing 'catch me if you can'", came Hugh Six's voice over everyone's two-way, especially meant for Jack Seven and Lisa Nine, "I'll be edging you two out with maybe another load or two. Haha-haaa."

Alex Five's voice rang out with a self-satisfied snicker, over everyone's two-way, "Hugh Six, as usual your as full of crap as an honest-to-God polar bear...if we had polar bears on this ice moon."

"Well, you've gotta polar bear here now, brother", Hugh Six radioed back. "And this one's planning to plow ahead of the likes of you, making my victory after all my dropped loads, when I'm picking up my first six-figure check from EUROPAN STATION ONE. Ha!"

Such was the shared attitudes of four genetically recreated, across three centuries, top truckers, as the "dash for the cash" got a huge push by said truckers in their airtight cabs, with recycled oxygen providing breathable air for all the truckers.

Not just those currently in the lead.

With the four truckers heading to various EUROPAN STATIONS, Hugh Six and Alex Five being both bound for EUROPAN STATION TWO with their very heavy loads, the push of power-mad driving over a smooth, for the most part, Europan surface was significantly stepped up.

Of the four, only Alex Five and Hugh Six seemed hellbent on staying on one another's backsides, seeing as they were both headed for the self-same site: EUROPAN STATION TWO.

The rush for relevance, in this situation of first to drop all their respective loads, and rush back to EUROPAN STATION ONE to log said drops down, then to pick up the next heavy haul load to yet another of the many EUROPAN STATIONS...

"Alex Five", said Hugh Six, as he looked in his rear-view mirrors, mounted on the doors for easy access, and saw the truck being driven by his staunchest competitor barely a half-kilometer to his rear. "Son, you ain't never gonna out-haul me. Haaa-haha!"

Alex Five had a similar set of emotive certainties about who would drop not just first, but fast...

"Lord love ya, Hugh Six", he said, whilst glancing at the rosary he always hung in one corner of the cab of any truck he had ever driven...in all of his recreated incarnations. "You may beat me by a few seconds, but I'll lead the two of us out of here, once the load has been dropped and tallied."

As to the other two highly-competitive recreated truckers, Jack Seven and Lisa Nine...

"Damn this terrain!" exclaimed Lisa Nine as she was nearly launched upward in her cab over a recently risen ridge of both hard and soft ice.

Luckily, for her, she was able to keep her grip on the steering wheel, as the specially counterbalanced driver's seat kept her from being launched out of it to bang her head hard against an unforgiving metallic cab interior.

Jack Seven had met up with his own recently pushed up-and-out ridges...

"Dammit to hell!"

His was even more unforgiving than Lisa Nine's. Leading to...

"Oh, shit!"


	7. Chapter 7

The rigs being driven by Hugh Six and Alex Five soon arrived at the temporarily-opened gates leading into EUROPAN STATION TWO. With the leader-on-the-board, Hugh Six, arriving just barely a half-meter ahead of co-leader-on-the-board, Alex Five, both their loads being dropped at pretty much the self-same time.

During the unloading process, both genetically-recreated truckers climbed out of their cabs in order to take a quick look around at what was clearly a high-tech operation, involving sending robotic diving devices down through holes drilled by high-intensity lasers.

It was clearly an operation that tread very lightly during their scientific pursuit to uncover sea-going Life. So delicate was the drilling, via said high-intensity lasers, that Hugh Six and Alex Five simultaneously saw just how major these ice moon runs would play into the overall reality of things making for a lot more runs than either pure-bred truckers could've conceived.

"Looks like there's a long race ahead for a trucker to become top leader-of-the-board, Alex Five", Hugh Six said through playfully smirking fat facial features.

Alex Five's bearded facial features denoted a much more jovial attitude. As if the race was not the number one thing on his mind. At least, not to the same all-consuming degree that such held out for Hugh Six's...

"There's gonna be a lot of opportunity, Hugh Six, to make it to the top of the heap, especially when we start having runs to the more distant EUROPAN STATIONS."

"I'll admit that Europa is a lot bigger than the ice road trucking we've done back on Earth", Hugh Six snickered. "But I'll still beat you to each and every single one of these EUROPAN STATIONS. Hahaha-ha."

"We'll both find out which of us is the best", Alex Five stated toothily, "by the time all the heavy hauls are accomplished, eh?"

Even as an amused rumble of laughter lazily made its way forth from Alex Five...

Jack Seven had just arrived at his destination of EUROPAN STATION FOUR, entering through the temporarily-opening gates of that particular domed enclosure, and awaited his turn to be promptly unloaded.

He couldn't help but wonder whether or not Lisa Nine had made her way inside EUROPAN STATION THREE. Or whether or not she was being unloaded at relatively the same time, meaning both could be heading back over the dense ice to the headquarters of this operation located at EUROPAN STATION ONE.

From the still sealed interior of his cab, looking out through the crystal clear windshield, Jack Seven could see similar laser-cuttings, and the releasing of more robotic dive devices. All just as deliberately slow a process as seen by Alex Five and Hugh Six so far away at EUROPAN STATION TWO.

Lisa Nine ended up arriving at EUROPAN STATION FOUR, just as a completely-unloaded Jack Seven left EUROPAN STATION THREE in a bid to quickly reach the headquarters and be able to haul out the next heavy load.

"Lisa Nine", he called out via his two-way radio's microphone, "if you can read me, I'm heading back for my next load. I'll probably see you on the way back to one of these other EUROPAN STATIONS, while you are just then heading in for the first time. Good luck to you, sweetheart."

No sooner said, with the microphone being replaced via a hooking extension on said radio, than Jack Seven was rapidly driving back in the general direction of EUROPAN STATION ONE.

Such was when the unexpected happened...

"Shit!" he exclaimed, just as a hill of ice arose directly before Jack Seven, causing him to have to throw on his jake brake, and gear down quickly, only to wind up with his cab holding to said hill by its spiked-for-ice tires. "Dammit!"

Even though the truck engine was still idling, and even though Jack Seven continually shifted between first gear and reverse in a vain attempt to dislodge his rig, such was not about to happen without help.

Jack Seven still attempted to help himself, as a glance out his air-tight driver's side window allowed him to see the mushy ice that pushed itself out through the two halves of the hill it created. That was when...

"What the...?"

Jack Seven saw the shadowy outline of something big and alive swimming past the mushy center of the just-created ridge. He didn't know whether or not what he saw was real, or perchance just some semblance of overactive imagination whilst stuck on the hill.

"I've gotta get oughta here", Jack Seven said with tension to his tone, and the expression of fear darkening his features. "Come on, come on!"


	8. Chapter 8

While Jack Seven continued to attempt a manner by which he could descend the sudden hill that erupted in front of him moments before...

"I beat you back to headquarters, Alex Five. Haaaa!", Hugh Six said challangingly, via his two-way, with another big guffaw. "I'll bet you anything you wanna bet that I'll pick up my next load and be headed out for another EUROPAN STATION before you can climb outta your cab. Haha-haaa!"

"You'll not get one over on me, Hugh Six", Alex Five stated with a widening smile upon his bearded facial features. "I'm right on your tail now, so we'll probably both pick up our next loads and destination identification at about the same time."

Just then, as a guttural chuckle rang out via Alex Five's two-way across any other trucker who was within range...

"Here you go, partner", proudly proclaimed Hugh Six, as he handed over the folding, paper-thin computer "paperwork".

After checking it over to make sure it was signed in and out at its destination of EUROPAN STATION TWO, the official nodded, while allowing another folding computer "paper", signed by him and handed over for Hugh Six, whom could then take possession of it, climb back up in his airtight, radiation-proof rig, and head out through the temporarily-opening gates. Just as all four of the genetically-recreated icons, of ice trucking, would do once they had checked in with properly signed "paperwork".

Meanwhile, as for Jack Seven...

"Dammit! What I need is some steel-reinforced shovel to break apart the hill's peak."

Having said that, Jack Seven went to his tool hold behind a little door just a meter or so on the side of the cab that was also behind the driver's side door.

"Aha! This might work."

Using a metallic handle for a truck jack, in case of a blown ice-traveling spiked tire, Jack Seven began chipping away, with slow-but-methodical stabs with the tapered end of the tire jack's handle...

"That's it!" he huffed within the confines of his space suit's helmet, but no longer in hopes that anyone could pick up on such a possible helmet-to-helmet transmission. "Just a little more..."

Just then, that shadowy water-based life-form came closer to the surface this time, mistaking Jack Seven's space suit-covered right leg for a quick underwater meal. A leg that was just then slipping into the central icy mush...

"Ahk! What the hell...?"

So startled by what was happening was Jack Seven, that he dropped the tire jack handle, which slid down the hard ice hill with a scrapping clatter not heard by Jack Seven or anyone else.

"Help! Something's got me! Help!"

Even as the tentacled extension of the cross between a giant jellyfish and an equally-large octopus maintained a vice-like grip on Jack Seven's right leg, and even as more screams for help went out by an activated helmet mike...

Lisa Nine heard those cries for help, just barely, over her own helmet's speakers, whilst it sat on the empty passenger's seat.

"Jack?" she pondered, even as she stopped for a moment, on the wide-open ice terrain making up the totality of the Europan surface clean around the slightly-smaller-than-Earth's moon's ball in permanent orbit about Jupiter, which made up the huge majority of the permanently starry sky. She put on her space helmet, secured it with the hiss of automatically activated pressure and oxygen, then made contact with the still screaming, out of both surprise and pain, Jack Seven.

"Jack, can you hear me? Where are you?"

"I'm about five or six kilometers ahead of the point where we separated in order to go to our specific Europan destinations", Jack Seven's tremulous and out-of-breath voice said over Lisa Nine's helmet speakers, "And I need help quick!"

"I'm on my way, Jack Seven. Just hang on!"

In a matter of minutes, which no doubt felt like several torturous hours to Jack Seven, as his struggles against the tentacled limb still grasping hard about his right leg left little faith in regards to letting him go so he could pull out said leg.

Slowly, dangerously, the sub-ice sea creature commenced applying tremendous squeezing pressure on Jack Seven's leg, until he felt his tibia crack, sending shards of great agony through his whole leg, and assaulting his brain shortly thereafter.

"Arg! Dammit to hell! Uhn!"

Even though the interior atmosphere of Jack Seven's space suit kept it neither too hot, nor too cold, sweat now began beading up and running down his face. Such was the level of pain being experienced by this seventh incarnation of Jack Jessee.

As such was going on at the hilly rise, with its mushy ice center...

"Hold on, Jack Seven", transmitted-via-her helmet mike Lisa Nine, hurriedly driving across the dense ice making up the surface of Europa, and zeroing in on Jack Seven's location. "I should be there in a few minutes. I've got the pedal to the medal, and am currently pushing my truck to its uppermost limits."

No sooner said, than the digital readout of kilometers-per-hour solidly entered the triple digits in regards to Lisa Nine's speed. Each bump hit nearly hurled her head-long into either the interior roof or through the thick, but not utterly unbreakable, windshield.

Finally, after hitting more and more small hilly bumps, Lisa Nine wound up within reach of Jack Seven. Her headlights illuminating the scene in an eerie fashion, even as Lisa Nine saw the muscular tentacle wrapped around Jack Seven's right leg's lower extremities.

"Damn", she muttered under her breath, as several seconds of indecisiveness passed. All the while listening to Jack Seven's agonized screams. "If I can't get that thing to let go of Jack's leg within a couple of minutes, it's likely as not to gonna crush not only the bone beneath, but the pressurized space suit, too. If that happened..."

Shaking off such horrible thoughts, along with the internalized vision of the sudden loss of pressure from said space suit allowing Jack Seven's head to swell up and burst inside his suit's helmet...

"Here I am, Jack!"

No sooner shouted, which she need not have done, due to the helmet transmitting her words through the speakers inside Jack Seven's helmet...

"Try not to move", Lisa Nine finally stated, in a determined manner that somehow helped Jack Seven to at last hold out hope of being freed of this monstrosity's iron-like grip.

Using a flare gun, which Lisa Nine had the good fortune to include in her tools stored just behind the driver's side door, she aimed it straight down at the shadowy creature's entwined-around-Jack's leg tentacle.

"Don't...move."

Squeezing the trigger, whilst maintaining a steady hand and, therefore, aim...

One could imagine the sea creature's reaction to such sudden pain, as the flare rocketed down to collide with the being's tentacled appendage. Something that Lisa Nine hated to do, seeing as how this was an alien life-form that would've excited the scientists currently attempting to verify life-forms living in the inner ocean.

Lisa Nine tossed aside the now-empty-and-smouldering flare gun, then managed to help Jack Seven get to his one good leg, then helped him hobble to the passenger's door of her own airtight, radiation-proof rig.

"I'll get you back to EUROPAN STATION ONE", Lisa Nine explained, sans helmet, to her still agonized, just not as much as he was whilst trapped by that multi-tentacled creature, no-longer-helmeted rider. "They can send someone out for your truck. But I'm afraid your 'dash-for-the-cash' is over. You'll have to hold up in the headquarter's medical bay, wherever they keep it in EUROPAN STATION ONE, and try to heal, before our return trip to Earth at the end of the week."

"That's alright", Jack Seven grunted, through the residual pain present in the broken tibia of his right leg. "I'm sure these scientists will wanna question me incessantly about the creature that tried to make a meal of me back there. Thanks, Lisa Nine. I hope, since I'm out of the competition, that you wind up at the top of the leader board."

"Thanks, Jack Seven", Lisa Nine nodded, even as she geared up in order for her truck to hurriedly make it back to EUROPAN STATION ONE, not only to get medical help for Jack Seven, but to pick up the folding signed computer document she'll need to make that next run. "If I hadn't been in range, you could've easily wound up being some alien monster's meal."

"Yeah", hummed Jack Seven as he reflected upon that fact. "Guess I've got a guardian angel on my side."


End file.
